Lajitas gets one more month

The Lajitas resort in South Brewster County has another month to come up with a cool $12.5 million before a New England lender pursues foreclosure for a second time.

Notices of a foreclosure sale scheduled for June 5 were posted in the Brewster and Presidio county courthouses in mid-May.

The $12.5 million one-year note was issued in June 2006 by Prime Asset Funding, a Connecticut firm.

According to the notice, "Default has occurred in the payment of the note and in the performance of the obligations of the Deed of Trust. Because of that default, lender, the owner and holder of the note, has requested trustee to sell the property."

"Pretty much at this time, we have no comment," said Amie Ellison, a communications associate for the resort's Austin public relations handler.

Houston real estate attorney Robert S. Ladd is representing PA Funding.

"We're talking with [Lajitas] as far as some kind of short term settlement," Ladd told the Avalanche Monday.

On Tuesday, he said the lender had agreed to "pass the foreclosure sale."

"Basically what that means is they've got another month," he said. "They're talking to some lenders."

Ladd said the high-end resort, which was purchased by communications millionaire Steve Smith in a 2000 auction for $4 million, has until July 3 to settle the debt.

"You should expect to see probably another notice of foreclosure sale here within a week," said Ladd.

According to state law, the notice must be posted 21 days in advance of a sale, which, in Brewster County, occurs on the first Tuesday of each month.

But Lajitas can use that time to find a solution.

According to Ladd, the default of what he called a "bridge loan" lies in certain financial performance.

"It was intended to give them some funds to put together a more permanent investment," he said. "They just haven't been able to get that together."

Lajitas, "the Ultimate Hideout," is a 25,000-acre private estate and includes a 92-room resort, private club and real estate division. Among the amenities listed at its website, www.lajitas.com, are an 18-hole golf course, spa, hunt club, lodge, equestrian center and a gourmet restaurant, among others.

Brewster County Tax Assessor/Collector Betty Jo Rooney said Lajitas currently owes nearly $21,000 in interest in penalties on their 2006 tax statement.

Tax payments are due Jan. 31, but the resort did send theirs until Feb. 15, at which time Rooney's office received only $278,192.80, excluding the interest and penalties.

She said $203,000 of Lajitas' total is paid to the Terlingua school district.

"This is a major impact for the school district. This is a major blow if these moneys are lost," said Rooney.

Superintendent Kathy Killingsworth said Tuesday that even though ownership of the resort would transfer in the case of foreclosure, the property would most likely end up with a lesser value.

"These things usually shake out," she said. "That's what we're hoping for here."

Lajitas gets one more month

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